


Terms of Engagement

by prairiecrow



Series: Terra Incognita [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Knight Rider (1982), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Androids, Arguing, Battle, Bodyguard, Established Relationship, Friendship/Love, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 02:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/629308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prairiecrow/pseuds/prairiecrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a prompt for a piece of fan art, at the request of the artist (thank you, konnichibot, for the kind offer!). Tony and android!Kitt discuss the terms of their service agreement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terms of Engagement

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Set about four months after "Terra Incognita".
> 
> 2) Android!KITT: http://www.me-me-me.tv/images/2010/11/Jared-Leto-naked.jpg

Considering that the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art had just been the site of a brief but acrobatic battle between Tony Stark's personal assistant-slash-bodyguard-slash secret android, a rather nastily equipped robotic assassin, and Iron Man, there were a surprising number of people still milling around in the immediate area while a light snow fell, including a fair number of the exquisitely dressed crowd who had screamed and ducked when bullets and punches were flying. But about two minutes ago the assassin had taken to the midnight skies with Iron Man in hot pursuit, and things were now a lot quieter —

— until the superhero returned, that is, to land at the periphery of the throng, toss the mangled body of his would-be executioner onto the ground, and stride toward one particular figure in the press of bodies. People got out of his way. The expression on Tony Stark's face when he keyed the suit's faceplate up told them that slowing him down would be a Very Bad Idea.

"What the hell did you think you were _doing?_ " He was not happy, as his roar attested: the suit's loudspeaker wasn't in use, but he certainly didn't need additional amplification to make his current feelings known. 

Kitt turned from the police officer he was talking to (who made himself scarce at the sight of Iron Man bearing down on them like the wrath of God) and raised his sculpted chin to regard Tony with hooded hazel eyes that telegraphed annoyance, defiance, and not the slightest trace of contrition. In spite of the partially shredded state of his dress suit he managed to present a rather elegant picture, with scarcely a blond-tipped hair out of place. "Backing you up," he stated, "exactly as I was —"

Tony clocked right up to him, practically breathing fire, and punctuated each word with a stab of his armoured right forefinger to the android's chest through his torn dress shirt. "You. Do. NOT. Go. Into. Battle. Wearing. This. Body! Now, is that fucking CLEAR?"

Kitt glanced down ruefully at his left arm, which was also looking much the worse for wear: the sleeve of his glossy Armani suit was completely gone, the synth skin ripped open from bicep to fingertips to reveal the thin layer of dented gold-titanium alloy beneath, and the armature of the hand itself clearly visible. Every so often the artificial tendons twitched fitfully, reflecting minor power surges from the arm's damaged capacitors that felt far less than pleasant. The rest of his torso was peppered with bullet impact damage, not as dramatic as what had happened to the arm but nonetheless painful, in their own way. "I'd say I did fairly well, all things consider—"

He let Tony grab his waist, and when the human had finished savagely kissing him he raised one finely drawn eyebrow and continued calmly: "Are you going to let me finish a sentence this time?"

"Only if you're going to promise not to throw yourself between me and future robotic assassins that outweigh you by a factor of three." His eyes were still blazing, but at least his voice had dropped to a volume that wouldn't carry to the end of the block. "Damn it, Kitt, you could have been —"

"Need I really point out that it could have been _your_ arm in need of emergency medical attention, or more likely completely severed? Not to mention all the other vulnerable flesh-and-blood parts of you?" The haughty line of his spine unbent the slightest bit, and he leaned forward just enough to touch the tip of his nose to the human's, raising his intact hand to open it against the breastplate of the armour while his own tone fell to a conciliatory murmur: "I can be repaired, Tony. And this is my job, remember? I preserve human life. More specifically, I protect _you_. And," he added with a hint of a teasing smirk, "I _did_ buy you time enough to don the suit. So cut me a little slack?"

"I could have handled it," Tony protested. 

"A highly debatable proposition." The arm twitched more emphatically, and he winced. "Could we get out of here, please? I don't like being seen like this in public. It's… most demeaning."

Tony drew a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly, visibly counting to ten. "Yeah." He let go of the android's waist and took a slow step back. "Yeah. Okay. But this discussion isn't over — not by a long shot."

"Thank you," Kitt bowed, and since the repulsor in his own left hand wasn't getting a steady power flow at this point he permitted himself to be swept off his feet and carried into the winter sky, the drifting snowflakes transforming into blurs of white whipping past them at high speed as Tony turned them both toward home.

THE END


End file.
